Rocky Black

Rocky Black comes to us from one of our well-respected tea foragers, Mr. Fan, also aptly known as "Hunter." Mr. Fan is a unique tea artisan in that he does not own any land himself, and does not work with a tea farm. Rather, he focuses on crafting tea from wild and semi-wild abandoned tea trees in the mountains; his wealth lies in his understanding of their location and seasonal rhythms.

This tea is made from wild tea trees that grow around the ancient Tianzhu Village. They are suspected to be around 100 years old, situated within thousands of acres of old growth forest at around 3600 feet above sea level. In the vast forest they grow to be about 8 feet tall, competing with a variety of other types of trees for precious, diffused sunlight. Thus, their roots extend deep into the earth to draw nutrients, and they grow slowly, accumulating these rich nutrients and compounds in their leaves.

An odd feature of the trees that give us Rocky Black is that, at some point during their long lives, they have gone through a slight mutation. Now, when new leaves start to form in the spring, they do so without buds — instead of budding, two small leaves are formed simultaneously — an interesting strategy that we've never seen before.

After the leaves are harvested they are baked over charcoal at low temperatures for around 48 hours. The result is a round, sugary and complex black tea with fascinating woody and mineral notes. It combines very pleasurable tastes, like sweet jujubes, with intriguing ones, like sandalwood and wet stone.

This is a particularly special tea in our core collection. Aside from being from wild, old grove, mutant trees, it is a tea that we see people form long lasting connections to. For many, Rocky Black is a tea that, once they've tried it, they will keep returning to. We never tire of its qualities, however distinct they may be.